*SOCIETE GENERALE TO SELL EU2.4 BLN IN STOCK IN RIGHTS OFFER
September 28th, 2006Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) — Societe Generale SA, France’s third- largest bank, will sell 2.4 billion euros ($3.1 billion) of stock to existing investors to fund purchases in countries such as Russia. The rights offer will help Paris-based Societe Generale pay
for purchases this year, the bank said in an e-mailed statement today. The lender, led by Chairman Daniel Bouton, will boost its stake in Russia’s OAO Rosbank to 20 percent and may take control of the Russian bank by 2008, Societe Generale said.
Societe Generale has spent more than 2 billion euros on acquisitions this year outside of France. It acquired a 10 percent stake in Rosbank and bought Splitska Banka to expand in Croatia, as well as UniCredit SpA’s custodian business. It is also leading a group of bidders for 85 percent of Guangdong Development Bank, China’s 11th-biggest lender.